Bruises
by UnknownAndUnwritten
Summary: Marluxia works in a little floral shop in the city. It seemed like his life would be like that forever until an old friend unexpectedly comes by. [MarLar][Contains a bit of AkuRoku and Zemyx][AU][I own nothing]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- **MarLar story inspired by the song "Bruises" by Train and Ashely Monroe.

I should really start to focus on my other stories. *stares at incomplete chapters and slaps her face*

* * *

Marluxia unlocked the glass door to his small flower shop called _Oblivion Flora._ He sighed, he loves to work with plants, but not a week has passed without someone walking in, looking at him, then leave his store laughing at him. Marluxia pushed the door open, flipped on the light switch and started to tend to his flora, he made sure he sprinkled the correct amount of water on each flower that needs it. After the pink-haired man finished watering and cleaning up the shop for the new day, a customer already found her way in.

He immediately turned to face the customer, "Welcome to Oblivion Flora! How may I assist-"

"I'm just looking around, this place looked interesting." The blond sharply interjected without looking at Marluxia. She wondered over to a Venus fly-trap and watched the carnivorous plant digest a fly. She laughed a little and muttered something under her breath.

Marluxia watched the visitor; there was something familiar about her, but he wasn't sure if it was his mind playing tricks on him. The store was only filled with the music that was playing from the blonde's iPod, which wasn't very loud. The pinkette decided that he should at least try to make a conversation with her, "I haven't seen you around here before," he walked up to her and stood next to the woman to watch the Venus fly-trap with her, "are you new here?" he inquired politely.

"Yeah, just moved here today with my younger brother." She turned her head around to look at the store's owner, her face was immediately filled with shock, "Are... are you-"

"Marluxia? Yes, I happen to be him." The florist pointed to his name-tag on his green and yellow apron.

"... Do you remember me?" her voice was sounding a bit hopeful for a "yes".

"Of course I do," he paused to build up suspense, "Larxene." He stretched out a hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you again. I believe I haven't spoken to you since out high school graduation?"

Larxene shook the florist's hand, "I... " she hesitated for a moment, "I'm glad to see you too, Gaylord." she smirked.

"Ah, you haven't changed a bit." he chuckled; it's been years he have been called by the name. He only allowed Larxene to call him that though; he did secretly have a small attraction to her.

* * *

_Haven't seen you since high school,_

_Good to see you're still beautiful._

* * *

"Same goes for you," she released her grip on her old friend's hand, "what are you doing in a place like this? I expected you to be a greenhouse or something with your talent with flowers."

"That's just too much work," Marluxia replied with a hint of sadness in his voice, he looked at the Venus fly-trap again, "I guess moving to the city was a bad idea after all..." he returned his gaze to Larxene's stunning green-eyes, "How is your brother, Demyx, faring?"

Larxene seemed to be a bit disappointed to hear that Marluxia thought it was a bad idea to move out of the town they used to live in, though she quickly got rid of that feeling, "That idiot?" she laughed, "He managed to start a band, he plays a few gigs from time-to-time, he told me he wasn't looking to go big though."

"He's so talented though, he would have been a great musician; I could already see rabid fan-girls stalking him." Marluxia chuckled, "What about... Axel?"

"I broke-up with Fire Crotch two years ago; left me for Ice-Cream Boy." her happy expression changed to a slightly pissed-off expression, "We still somehow to stayed friends though, because of Demyx's sad-face."

"I see, Demyx saves the day. You just can't deny his sad-face." Marluxia actually felt kind of happy to hear that Axel and Larxene are not dating anymore. Though... Ice-Cream Boy, was she talking about Roxas? He couldn't really remember her nicknames.

"Hm, I guess so," Larxene opened her bag to grab something, a few seconds later, she pulled out her yellow cellphone and flipped it open, "So, when are you closing?"

Marluxia completely forgot that he was working until Larxene mentioned it, "I usually close this place at 7 in the evening, why?"

"I was wondering if you want to help Dem and I move into our new place... Wait, did you say 'usually?"

"Yes, I could actually close anytime I want, I didn't rent this building, I own it." he shrugged, "I could close now, if you would like me to."

"That would be awesome actually, I just got a text from Dem telling me to hurry-up, he wants to rehearse a song for tomorrow night." she looked up to Marluxia and smirked, "I want to see his reaction when he sees you."

"Alright, I'll meet you outside." Marluxia walked to his counter as Larxene left the shop and stood outside, he pulled out a pink marker and a piece of paper, on the paper, he wrote: "Will be back tomorrow." in very neat cursive. He ripped off a piece tape and stuck the note on the door and exited the store and locked the entrance.

* * *

_One that's five and one that's three,_

_Been two years since he left me,_

_Good to know that you got free,_

_That town I know is keeping you down on your knees..._


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey! Larxene! What took you so long?" a young adult with a hairstyle that's a cross between a mullet and a mohawk called with a hint of worry in his voice from the back from a large truck.

"Geez, isn't someone impatient?" Larxene replied a bit sarcastically, as she walked up to the truck, "Don't worry, Dem, I just met an old friend."_  
_

"Who?" Demyx inquired.

"You tell me." Larxene stepped to the side to reveal a pink-haired man behind her who waved a hello to the younger sibling.

Demyx's face immediately lit-up and a gigantic smile spread across his face as he ran up to Marluxia, "MARLY!" He exclaimed in a over-optimistic voice and gave a hug to the older man, "It's been forever since I saw you! Now we can listen to music, eat ice-cream, and all the stuff we did with the others like we used to!"

Marluxia chuckled, "I missed you too, Demyx." he gently patted his back and slowly tried to push Demyx off him.

"Hey, Flower Boy! Aren't you going to give me a hug too?" a red-haired man tapped on Marluxia's shoulder.

"No, I prefer not to actually, you pyromaniac." Marluxia turned around and saw that the man had one arm draped over a blonde's shoulder.

"Whoa, on to the name-calling already? I thought we were friends! You break my heart Marluxia, break it to tiny little pieces." he clutched his chest in a dramatic manner with his free hand.

"I don't regret it one bit too, Axel." Marluxia replied mockingly as he finally got Demyx to release him.

The blonde shoved the red-haired man's arm off of him and looked at Marluxia, "Hi, Marluxia." he quickly greeted before elbowing Axel, "Sorry about him, he watched too many drama films."

"Oh! Now even my boyfriend is being so mean to me!" Axel said sarcastically.

The pink-haired man ignored the pyromaniac and looked at the blond with a quizzical expression on his face; he quickly wiped it away, "You're Roxas, am I correct?"

The blonde smiled, "Yes I am!" he lightly elbowed Axel again for being so childish.

Marluxia made a small smile, "Nice to see you again."

"Shut-up, you fags!" Larxene ran-up to the small home the truck was parked in front of and pulled out a set of keys. She swiftly unlocked the door and kicked it open, "Hurry-up and unload the truck! I expected you idiots to do it while I'm gone; but I guessed I overestimated you all." she called out rudely.

Marluxia couldn't help but smile; _Not one bit._ he thought to himself before peaking into the truck.

"Ya hear that, Zexion? Her your tiny ass off the couch or we'll just carry it outside with you on it!" A man with an eye-patch and haired tied-up in a ponytail yelled.

"No thank you. I'd rather sit here and read instead of assisting you imbeciles with unloading all of this furniture out of this vehicle." A small slate-haired young adult retorted calmly.

"I'm warning you! We'll do it!" he threatened.

"Go ahead, see if I care." the slate-haired young man waved his hand dismissively.

"Fine!" The man with the eye-patch waved an older man with raven-black hair that was tied-up in braids over.

"What do you want now, Xigbar?" he impatiently asked.

"Help me get this couch out of here."

"Shouldn't you get Zexion off it first?"

"Weren't you listening, Xaldin? He's dead-set on finishing that book!"

"No, I was too busy playing poker with Luxord." he shot a glare to the platinum blonde-haired man who was watching the whole scene unfold with an amused expression on his face. Xaldin sighed and walked over to the other side of the couch, "One... Two... Three!" he lifted the edge of the couch up.

Xigbar lifted his side of the couch too and slowly walked backwards out towards the edge of the truck. That's when Marluxia realized the ramp was wasn't out yet. He quickly pulled the ramp out of the truck before the two older men walk off the edge of the truck along with Zexion.

Zexion looked up from his book at the sudden sound of rattling metal, "Greetings, Marluxia." he greeted before his visible left cobalt-colored eye returned to reading his book.

Marluxia only managed a weak wave in return; he was slowly inhaling air and exhaling due to quickly pulling out the ramp before any terrible accidents occurred. He stood at the side of the ramp as he watched Xigbar and Xaldin unload the teal-colored couch.

"Stop!" Xigbar yelled just as he reached the edge of truck, "I need to pull out the-"

"Are you deaf, Xigbar?" Zexion said curtly, "Marluxia just literally pulled the ramp out before you fall down and break you back. It was rather loud too."

"What?" Xigbar looked behind him, "Oh, I thought Vexen blew something up. I didn't know- Wait, Marluxia?"

Zexion shook his head and lets out an exasperated sigh before he continued reading the large novel in his hands.

"Are you kidding me? Marluxia was standing there the whole time and you just realized?" Xaldin inquired, the tone of his voice a bit irritated.

Xigbar ignored both of them, "Yo! Marluxia! How are ya? It's been years!" he greeted energetically.

"Good to see you, Xigbar, you haven't changed one bit." Marluxia couldn't hide his mocking smirk; that obviously wasn't supposed to be a compliment.

Xigbar continued walking backwards; he missed the pink-head's smile, "Thanks," he said, "though you still haven't answered my question."

"Maybe later? You should focus on getting the couch out; if you don't, you'll probably drop-"

"Zexy!" Demyx ran up the ramp and hopped on top of the couch and hugged the young man on it.

Xigbar and Xaldin were shocked when this happened; they almost dropped the couch. Even Luxord stood up and was about to run over to catch one of the two young men on the large piece of furniture.

"Demyx! That was a dangerous action!" Zexion scolded as he shut his book closed.

"Aw, but Zexy, I did it for you!" Demyx said happily as he tightened the hug.

Zexuin's face flushed red slightly, "Demyx, that's sweet, but you could've have injured us. Not only that, you're a young adult and that was a very childish thing too do." there was a slight pause, "Also, don't call my Zexy."

"Aren't you his little 'Sexy Zexy' though?" Xigbar teased.

Zexion took his book and aimed it at Xigbar's good eye, "Hmm... Dem, have you ever wondered what Xigbar would look like with two eye-patches?"

"Always!" Demyx said, unaware of how Zexion was holding his book.

"Hey, hey, let's not do something we would regret!" Xigbar mentioned; not even slightly worried that Zexion might actually take out his left-eye.

"What if I don't regret it?" Zexion retorted snidely, "What if I really, really enjoy it?"

"Enjoy what?" Demyx asked, staring at Zexion with bright, ocean-blue eyes.

"What do you think, Dem?"

"Uhh..." Demyx released Zexion from a hug and and tapped his chin in thought.

"You really are clueless." Zexion sighed and placed his book on the couch.

"What?"

"You're clueless."

"You really are, Demyx. It doesn't take a rocket-scientist to discover that Zexion was about to take out Xigbar's eye." Xaldin said.

Demyx gasped, "Zexion! You can't do that! How would he be able to play bass if he's eyeless?"

"Dem, I was only joking."

"Oh." Demyx rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Marluxia laughed, "I would love to listen to all of you argue, but shouldn't you be..." he pointed at Larxene who was waiting impatiently at the threshold of the entrance to the house.

"Hurry-up!" she ordered when everyone glanced in her direction.

"No way!" Xibar retorted.

"Are you found of that eye, old man?!" she threatened as she looked for a doorstop.

"Yes!" Xigbar then looked offended, "Okay, I am not old! My hair is prematurely graying!" He added as him and Xaldin reached solid ground.

"I don't give a flying rat's ass if your hair decides to look older than it is! Hurry the fuck up!" The blonde growled impatiently as she kicked a plastic wedge under the door before jumping down the steps and casting a cold glare at the men. She walked towards Marluxia and stood next to him, "Is Luxord in there?"

"Yes he is." Marluxia answered as he looked inside.

"Thanks." she replied in marched in, "Luxord! Get your lazy ass off the chair and help unload the truck!" she yelled.

"Okay! Calm down!"

"Calm down? I am calm!"

Marluxia watched the whole scene unfold; Larxene was glaring at Luxord until the blonde-haired man picked up the chair he was sitting on, gently inserted his cards into his pocket, then picked up the table he was next to before exited the ramp mumbling. Larxene followed him out with a cooler in her hands. She dropped it on the ground next to the truck and opened it, "Want a drink?" she asked as she pulled out a bottle of unsweetened lemonade (she didn't grab the beer; she doesn't do drugs because she doesn't want it to affect her athletic abilities.)

The pink-hared man walked over to the cooler "Yes," he then took out a bottle of sweet-tea, "thank you."

.

The two stood standing in a comfortable silence as they both watched Xigbar, Xaldin, and Luxord unload the furniture from the truck and occasionally looked over to Demyx and Zexion to see what they're up to. Then, something struck Marluxia, "Hey, Larxene..."

"What?"

"Why don't you make Demyx and Zexion unload the items?"

"Oh," she took a sip from her lemonade, "they're... too cute to break apart."

"Cute?" Marluxia grinned, "Larxene liked cute things? Since when?"

"Shut-up. I'm human not a monster." she finished her beverage.

"As if!" Xigbar called out as if on cue.

"Get back to work, dumbass!" she chucked her empty, plastic, lemonade bottle at the older man.

Xigbar moved out of the way of the bottle quickly, so the discarded container only hit the wooden surface of the home with a small thud, "Witch..." he mumbled as he carried some chairs in.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing!" Xigbar replied quickly before running into the house to avoid anymore questions.

Larxene leaned onto the truck, "Geez, that guy needs to lay off the beer." sighed.

"Dear, it's not beer, it's rum." Luxord said politely as he exited the truck with a few decorative pillows.

"I don't care; that guy still needs to lay off the alcohol." she said curtly.

Luxord only replied with a shrug; unlike Xigbar, he does his best to avoid angering Larxene.

Marluxia chuckled at her statement, then he continued to ask questions, "Where did Roxas and Axel wander off to?"

"The cooler ran out of sea-salt ice-cream, so Fire Crotch drove Ice-Cream Boy off to the closest grocery store to get more."

"Hm, I see." Marluxia idly tapped his fingers on his empty sweet-tea can, "I heard that Vexen is here, where is he?"

"Checking some stuff in the backyard with Lexaeus. Electricity and shit like that because 'Big Brother' Lex is worried about our safety."

" 'Big Brother' ?"

"Lex is treating us like we're his younger siblings, especially to Demyx and only people who he doesn't treat like that are Xigbar, Vexen, Xaldin, and Luxord."

"Why Demyx?" Marluxia wasn't curious why Lexaeus was being especially brotherly to Zexion because Vexen was like his father (Zexion was an orphan; Vexen happened to find him during a walk and took him in because he said: "Zexion was extremely smart for a three-year old. It would be a waste to let such intelligence go to waste.") , and since Lexaeus works closely with Vexen, he treated Zexion as if he was his younger brother, making the trio a little "family".

"I don't really know. I know it'd not because he was dating Zexion, that's for sure. Though, if I have to guess, I think it's because he's such a baby. I don't mind it at all; means if I need a babysitter, I could go to Lexaeus." Larxene snickered.

Marluxia smiled again (he's been doing that a lot lately), "One more question; why didn't you make me unload things? Didn't you ask me to help you and Demyx move in?"

Larxene thought about it for a moment, "Nah, you don't need to get your hands dirty. I prefer talking to you; everyone else are idiots or can't make an interesting conversation to save their lives." the blonde peaked into the truck, she scowled, "Those retards are already taking a break when they forgot these." she charged into the truck and emerged with two large boxes of blankets, pillows, pillow cases, and other similar items. She started to walk down the ramp before Marluxia stopped her.

"Would you like some help carrying those?" he inquired.

"No, just stand there and look pretty."

"No, I insist." _Shouldn't I be the one to tell you that?_ he thought.

"And I insist that you stand there and look pretty." she repeated.

Marluxia sighed and just took one of the boxes, "Sorry, I can't accept that answer." he paused for a moment, "If you would like, I could take that box too so you could stand around and look _beautiful_." he subtly flirted.

"Sorry, I don't do pretty, or beautiful."

"Then how about gorgeous?"

"Not that too." Marluxia was sure she she was blushing a little, but he couldn't tell because she was hiding her face behind the box she held.

"Sorry, Larxene, you're already 'doing' gorgeous without realizing it, I guess." Marluxia said in a sweet voice.

"Shut-up and move." Larxene said sharply.

Marluxia was shocked by her tone, did he go too far too quickly? No... she must have only said it in that tone because she wanted to finish moving her and Demyx's stuff in. Marluxia chose to believe in the latter.

* * *

**A/N- **No lyrics this chapter, sorry if that disappointed you. XD

I'm also sorry that this took so long to post, FF has been acting strange for the last few days for me. D8

Also, can you spot the TWEWY reference in this chapter?

Thank you for reading! (Reviews motivate me, by the way!)


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone was gathered in the dining room of the new home. The room had faded-yellow floral-wallpaper and a hardwood floor that had some scratches and dents in it. A large wooden oval-shaped table was situated in the middle of the room with thirteen chairs surrounding, however, only six of them are matching; Marluxia assumed that the other seven chairs were taken from some other part of the home. Demyx was strumming his sitar and the room was only filled with the beautiful melodious sound of his blue instrument as mostly everyone intently listened to each note that was gently coaxed out by the blonde's nimble dancing fingers. Though, Xigbar tried to strike-up a conversation with Luxord sometime during the song but only received an icy-cold glare from Larxene before he could even make a sound. Marluxia tried to watch Demyx play, but found himself watching the sitar player's older sister more with thoughts occasionally drifting back to what occurred merely minutes ago outside. The pink-haired man was taken-aback by her tone and the irritated gleam in her chlorophyll-colored eyes, not her words, though he quickly shook the thoughts away, reminding himself the she was just tired. If she was actually mad at him, the blonde would have thrown him out the window by now in lieu of letting him sit next to her at the table.

When Demyx strummed out the last note to his long string of melodies, an applause erupted from the medium-sized group. Marluxia slowly leaned into Larxene during the applause, "Why did he suddenly play his sitar?" he inquired, a bit curious.

"Have you ever heard of 'the calm before the storm'?" she replied. Marluxia immediately caught what she meant and straightened himself in his seat. He watched Xaldin wander off into the next room, the kitchen, with Axel grinning in a mischievous manner as his emerald-eyes followed the larger man into the kitchen. He spotted the redhead whisper something to the short blonde on his lap among the the sudden explosion of conversations; whatever he said, it earned him and angry glare from Roxas and another whisper back. Axel looked like he sighed in defeat before he wrapped his long arms around the blonde's waist and started to rock from side-to-side, being careful of bumping into the two sitting beside him. Marluxia's attention quickly broke away when there was a rapid knocking on the door, "Here comes the part storm." Larxene sighed as she got up and ran to the entrance, grab a shoe, and opened the door. Marluxia tried to hear the talking at the entrance without the need to move from his seat and attract attention.

Everyone seemed to have taken the same interest of hearing the talking at the door too, because everyone stopped their conversations and the room fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence; with the exception a of Demyx stifling his laughter at the sudden quietness and Zexion turning the pages of his novel and Axel leaving the room with Roxas following close behind.

Larxene opened the door and threw the shoe she held at whoever stood in front of it.

"You witch!" a high-pitch male voice screamed after getting a shoe to the forehead, "Why did you assault me with a piece of footwear?!"

"Can-it you cranky old-fart! What to you so long?!" Larxene snarled.

"You have not answered my question!" The man picked up the shoe from the ground, "And don't act like you don't know why we took so long!"

"I don't need to answer you stinking question!"

"Yes you do! No one should be smacked in the face with a shoe when they are only trying to enter a house!"

"Says who!?"

"Calm down, you two." a deep voice calmly but assertively as he interjected the heated argument. Both voices came to an immediate halt, "Vexen, Larxene, try to keep your voices down, it's quiet here. We'll attract the attention of people passing by."

Vexen took a deep breath, "Thank you for stopping us before we caused trouble, Lexaeus. As for Larxene, I would still like to know why you find the need to hit the first person you see at your doorway with a shoe." he tossed the shoe from one hand to another before dropping it in the doorway.

Larxene sighed, "It's because..." her voice trailed off, no one in the dining room heard why.

A surprised expression swept over Vexen's face, "Well, I see. That's still not an excuse to hit the first person you see in the doorway with a shoe." he looked like he wanted to say something else, but he decided to keep that thought in the back of his mind for now.

Larxene breathed an exasperated sigh, "Whatever, get in already, everyone's waiting."

Soon, the blonde woman reentered the dining room with Vexen and Lexaeus, who immediately took a seat next to Zexion and the room erupted back into talking. The young, blue-haired man turned to face the two men, "Hello," he greeted, "how was the inspection?"

"The house is perfectly safe, other than the fact that there may be a few spiders crawling around here and there, but it shouldn't be a problem. They should be too fearful of Larxene to go anywhere near here." Vexen replied as quietly as he could so Larxene wouldn't hear him.

Zexion smirked at the comment and returned to his book, "Lexaeus, what time is it presently?" he deadpanned without lifting his gaze.

"Almost two o' clock." he replied in the same monotone manner.

"Hmph." the blue-haired young adult sighed, "They're not usually this late."

"Who's late?" Demyx asked as he sprawled most of himself on the table. Though, Larxene caught him doing this so she grabbed him and pulled him back into his seat. She muttered something into his ear and caused the musician to shiver as Laarxene smile triumphantly.

Just as Zexion was about to reply, Xaldin's voice bellowed from the kitchen, "Axel! Don't touch that!"

"A little extra heat won't hurt anybody!"

"You dumbass! I thought you said you were only going to get ice-cream!"

"Dammit, Axel!" the sound of frantic running can be heard, "It will hurt the pie!"

"Pie?!" Demyx jumped up from his seat, "What kind of-"

"Sit your ass down, Dem!" Larxene pulled her younger sibling down, "I'll handle this." the blonde charge into the kitchen. "Listen-up, you sissies! You guys are _obviously_ having _too_ much fun! Now, I want you fags to calm the fuck down! Axel, get your stupid ice-cream and get outta the kitchen! Xaldin, hurry-up with that pie! And Roxas," there was a pause, "keep your boyfriend under control."

"Alright, alright, Drill Sergeant Larxene," the sound of the fridge opening and closing can be heard, "I'm leaving the kitchen." Soon, a familiar redhead entered the dining room with his beloved blonde. Larxene came out the kitchen right after the couple with another bottle of unsweetened lemonade in her hand and settled back next to Marluxia.

"Man," she cracked the bottle open, "Axel is so immature." she took a sip, "He does this every time we invite him over, he would try to burn something."

"That is very expected of him." Marluxia sighed, "That crazy pyromaniac... Was he fooling around with the stove?"

Larxene slammed her bottle down, luckily, no one took notice, "Exactly! He was toying around with the fucking stove. I swear, if I wasn't here, Xaldin would have chopped him up." she crossed her arms, "I wonder how Roxas can handle him sometimes..."

"True love, maybe." he shrugged.

"True love?" Larxene stared at Marluxia straight into his eyes. The sudden eye contact made the man blush a bit, "Hm, I guess so."

Crap.

Larxene noticed his blushing and made her signature devilish smirk.

"Well, Marly looks a little red-"

The doorbell rang.

Marluxia breathed a sigh of relief as Larxene got up once again with her lemonade, grumbling curses under her breath. The conversations in the room didn't come to a stop, it seems as though they knew who to expect to walk through the entrance. Marluxia slumped down a bit on his seat, _She had that reckless look on her face..._ He tried to pay attention to the conversation at the door, but the talking in the room seemed to get louder. Then, minutes later, Larxene reentered with two men trailing behind her, one with long silver-hair and one with long-blue hair and a scar shaped as an "X" on his face.

"Okay!" Larxene slammed her hands on the table, all the noise in the room halted, "Now that Xemnas and Saix are both here and _fashionably _late, we can finally leave!"

"Leave?" Marluxia's curiosity was piqued.

"Leave?" Xaldin took off his oven-mitts "What about the pie-"

"Fuck the pie! It can wait." she interrupted the larger man curtly, "We need to leave before Demyx is late for his gig." Xaldin reluctantly threw the oven-mitts on the counter next to him.

"Gig...?" Demyx rubbed his chin in thought, "Oh yeah! The cafe!" the blonde grabbed his guitar and rushed out of the room and looked back, "We need to rehearse in the car!"

Zexion sighed and closed his book, "Dem, you still have about twenty-six minutes before the show starts. It takes seven minutes to get there, so you have nineteen minutes to rehearse at the back of the cafe. There's no need to practice in the car."

Demyx sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Whoops... Sorry, got a bit excited. New place and all, ya' know."

This caused the whole room to laugh, everyone except Saix, who seemed to only keep an unchanging expression on his face as he waited for everyone to start leaving, "May we leave now?" he said, halting all the laughter.

.

The Cafe That Never Was is a very plain eatery; the whole exterior and interior walls, floor, and ceilings are colored a white with a light tint of blue-gray. Marluxia and the others settled at a large table situated closest to the stage and chatted for a bit about the events that happened along their way to the cafe before Demyx, Zexion, Axel, Xigbar, Xaldin, and Luxord left to go rehearse their performance. "I never knew Luxord could play an instrument."

"He can't play an instrument for his life." Larxene laughed before grabbing a menu and flipping it open.

"...I don't even want to know anymore." Marluxia rubbed his forehead with his left hand as he used his other hand to grab a menu from the center of the table.

"Are you sure?" The blonde said teasingly as she idly flipped a page back and forth, "It's a good reason, in my opinion."

"Okay then, shoot." the pink-haired man read the vegetarian section of the booklet; no, he isn't a vegetarian, he just wanted a salad.

"Luxord is coming with them because Demyx's performances are always special." she drawled, "he wants to get a good laugh out of the crowd, ya' know, just to cheer up anyone that's having a bad day." Larxene closed her menu, "He's planning on singing a song he found on the internet, _Calling_(1), he got permission to perform a bit of it from the guy(2) who uploaded on one condition," she paused for a bit of suspense, "he has to record it and send it to him. Which isn't really much." she waved a hand over Lexaeus, who held a camera in one large steady hand.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Marluxia flipped a page in his menu.

"Hm?" Larxene turned around and stared at the man sitting next to her, "Why is that? Are you doubting Dem?" she said with a voice laced with false venom.

"Just a tiny bit," Marluxia kept himself distracted with the menu before him, he already knew what he wanted, but he needed an excuse to avert the green-eyes looking at him, "The people here aren't easily please."

Larxene cracked a grin, "Don't worry! No one can resist laughing at Demyx, no matter how horrid his jokes are." a short, comfortable silence fell between the two, "By the way, Dem's going to perform _Umbrella Beach_(3) after his little opening act is done." she grinned, "Let's make this a bet, shall we? Crowd likes the band, I win, if not, you win."

"What shall we wager?" Marluxia lifted an eye from the menu as he closed it gently.

"Loser does one thing the winner wants."

"I'm not sure about that, how will I know if you're going to get me to do something that could possibly kill me?"

"Don't worry, I won't. Deal?" she held out a hand.

"..." Marluxia thought about this, but shook the blonde's hand, "Deal."

"Alright! Ladies, and gents, who are your days so far? Good? No?" A man with orange hair was up on stage and he grabbed the microphone from the stand, "Hello? Anyone listening?" he tapped the microphone, an annoying tapping resonated through the speakers and that caught the attention of everyone in the cafe, "Took ya' guys long enough." he grumbled sarcastically, "If you don't already know," he pointed to himself I'm Kariya, and I'm here to introduce you guys to a new band that moved here into our city," he waved a hand to the curtains, which suddenly opened to reveal the band, "now, play nice, don't be so hard on 'em. They're amazing, to be honest." He shrugged and pulled out a CD labeled "Melodious Nocturne" on the front, "Now, let's welcome The Melodious Nocturne!"

Demyx walked up to Kariya to get the mic and received a pat on the back, "Hey, everyone!" he greeted cheerfully, "If it's okay with Kariya, we can...?" he looked over to the manager of the cafe, who merely shrugged with a smile, "Okay!" he waved a hand to himself, "I'm Demyx, the guitarist and lead vocals!" he waved a hand to the next member, "He's Zexion, the keyboardist!" he placed a hand on the side of his mouth and pretended to whisper to the crowd, "And he's my Zexy, sorry everyone." he smiled then did another wave, "Axel, back-up vocals!" Axel made a cocky grin, "Xigbar, the pirate bass player!" some of the members of the audience giggled, "And Xaldin on drums!" and one last wave, "Then, finally, Luxord, he's a special guest for today!" The musician smiled brightly, "Shall we get started?"

The audience in the cafe cheered and whistled. Larxene jumped out of her seat, "Show 'em a show to remember!" she cheered loudly.

Music started playing and Axel and Demyx walked up to Xigbar, who was busy tuning his bass, "_Calling..._" the sung softly into his ears, causing the older man to "jump" slightly in "shock", "_Someone is calling..._"

"What are you talking about? If someone called, I don't need-"

"_Calling... Someone is calling..._" by this time, Luxord was gone without the crowd noticing.

Xibgar's phone rung, "As if! I'm not falling for it."

"Answer the darn phone already." Axel grabbed it and flipped it open and shoved it into the bass player's ear.

"No-"

"Xigbar..." and angry voice growled; an angry _British_ voice; echoed through the speakers.

"Oh crap." Xigbar looked fearfully at the other side of the stage as Luxord stomped out in fake, but convincing anger.

"Are you using my cards to tune your bass?" the platinum-blonde said through gritted teeth.

"Hey Dem..." Axel whispered into Demyx's ear as the music continued to flow through, "This isn't in the script."

Demyx laughed softly, "I don't care, this is hilarious. See?" he pointed at a set of drum-sticks Xaldin got rid of earlier in Luxord's hands. Axel smirked evilly.

"Come on, dude, you have hundreds of these things lying around!" he tried to hide the king of hearts card behind his back.

Luxord pulled out the drum-sticks, "I have told you hundred of times before..." he approached the older man, "do not touch my cards!"

Okay, so maybe the anger wasn't fake.

The next moment, Luxord chased Xigbar around the stage, "Okay! Dude! Calm down!"

Nearby Marluxia, Saix breathed an exasperated sigh as he got up and walked up the stage since Larxene was too busy laughing and Lexaeus is unable to get up due to the need to record the show. He quickly grabbed the two men by the collar of the shirt, "You two..." he growled, "As much as we want to see you two men maul each other two death over a card, we are here to watch you guys perform music." he sent both Luxord and Xigbar icy-cold glares with his bright yellow-eyes before exiting the stage.

Demyx and Axel both double-over in stitches, Xaldin and Zexion grinned at the scene. The infectious laughter caused the whole cafe to burst into cackles too.

"You got scolded!" Demyx sang as he wobbled over to Zexion to rest an arm over the blue-haired keyboardist's shoulder in attempt to calm down. Minutes passed before the band finally pulled their act together, Demyx lifted the microphone he held up to his mouth with one huge jubilant smile spreading across his face, "Okay... Okay! It's time for the real part of the show! We'll be singing _Umbrella Beach_!" he looked over to his band who gave him a nod that they were ready; Luxord got off the stage and took a seat next to Roxas in the audience. Zexion's fingers nimbly danced along his keyboard and filled the room with lively music before the other instruments joined in and played softly.

"_Stems and gears, oh how the daisies bloom..._" Demyx and Axel sung clearly in unison; though, from the looks on their face, it looked like they were trying to forget what happened.  
.

The song ended and the band received a large applause, Larxene grabbed Marluxia's wrist and dragged him up from his seat to cheer with her. Marluxia was yanked up from his seat, slightly surprised by the blonde's sudden burst of strength, his arm was actually kind of sore from it too. Kariya waltzed up on the stage and took the microphone right out of Demyx's hand, he recieved a glare from Larxene, but he only returned it with a nonchalant wave and smile. He lifted the mic to his mouth, "How was that, ladies and gents?" he drawled, "They're not only funny, but they're amazing- no unbelievable." he said seriously, "Any opinions?" The cafe was filled with cheers of approval once more.

Larxene grinned wickedly, "See? What did I tell you?"

Marluxia shrugged, "I guess my premonition was wrong."

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Guess I won the bet." she drawled.

Marluxia's eyes widened, "I- I guess so." he started to deal out all the possibilities of what Larxene might make him do... Each one was horrible; well maybe except for one, but he quickly dismissed it because he doubted that Larxene would ask him to do it. He wasn't sure why he even thought about it in the first place.

"We'll discuss this later, right now..." Larxene sat back down and waved a menu to get the attention of a waitress, "Man, these people need to do their fucking jobs instead of drooling over Melodious Nocturne." she mumbled. By now, Kariya placed the microphone in the holder and was talking with the band. When a waitress turned around to go over Larxene's table, Kariya waved the pink-haired woman over when his conversation with Melodious Nocturne ended. "Dammit!" Larxene cursed.

"The person looks oddly familiar..." Marluxia said quietly, it was barely audible.

"No way!" The lady yelled, trying to refrain herself from cursing, "That's not worth a bowl of ramen!" she fumed.

"Come on, Yashiro, it'll be hilarious."

"See how hilarious it is when I lose my job and have only _you_ to blame!"

"Aren't you forgetting who's manager?"

"No, I don't _believe _it, you're way too carefree!" she retorted.

"Fine," Kariya waved a hand dismissively, "go waste a perfect opportunity for free ramen."

"Like I care." she grumbled before leaving Kariya to tend to the orders at Larxene's table, "What do you guys want today?"

"Thirteen bowls of sea-salt ice-cream, ten medium and three large." Larxene ordered.

"I'll take a salad and some green tea." Marluxia added.

"I'd would love some regular tea and a muffin."

Roxas, Vexen, Lexaeus, Saix, and Xemnas stayed silent.

Yashiro raised an eyebrow at Larxene, "That's a lot of ice-cream."

"It's not all for me." Larxene's eyes narrowed.

Yashiro's eyes darted to the five silent customers, "You guys want anything?" there was no response, the waitress breathed an exasperated sigh and jotted down the orders and the table.

"Free ramen, Yashiro!" Kariya called out mockingly.

"I don't care!"

"Hey, Larx..." Demyx tapped on his older sister's shoulder after the band has gathered up their instruments.

"Huh?" Larxene's head shot back, "Who are you, and what have you done with happy Demyx?"

"I can't decide." Demyx stared at Larxene with his 'puppy-dog eyes'.

"Hmmm..." Larxene stared at her brother, "What's... wrong?" she said stubbornly.

"Sit down, Demyx." Zexion was already seated next to Lexaeus, there was some space between him and Larxene. Demyx nodded and sat down and rested his head on Zexion's shoulder, "Kariya asked him something, but he refused to tell us what."

"Is it that, bad?" Lexaeus asked with the slightest hint of worry in his tone.

"No, it's not that bad, it's actually kind of good."

* * *

** A/N- (1)- **_Calling _from "The World Ends With You"/"It's a Wonderful World", a SquareEnix game for the DS.

**(2)**- *Cough*Joshua.*Cough*

**(3)**- _Umbrella Beach_ is by Owl City. I put my playlist on shuffle for a song the band would play.

*dodges bullets because of the almost-kiss and ending at a cliff-hanger* Pleasedon'thurtmeyetthestoryhasn'tended!

Oh, sorry for ending at a cliff-hanger, I felt like that chapter was getting too long.

Also, I can see Demyx doing the opening act thing because he wants to be different and make people happy. XD

Thank you for reading and thanks for the reviews on the last chapter if you left one! 8D


	4. Chapter 4

Larxene raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her younger brother, "Then what's with the face if it isn't that bad?" She impatiently tapped her foot on the tile floor as she waited for the response.

"Well... Um... You see..." Demyx shifted a bit in his seat, "Kariya wanted me to perform here every night. He would pay us more than he is now, but, what if they get-"

"Shut up. We're not accepting it." Larxene curtly scoffed before the Demyx could complete his statement. "What he is paying Melodious Nocturne now for booking a gig here whenever we feel like it is good enough. Anyways, we need to know the area better, getting glued down to one place sound boring." she waved a dismissive hand.

"You guys get paid even when you ask to perform... Kariya is a... strange man." Marluxia drawled with a grin plastered on his face.

"I couldn't agree more." Zexion sighed before turning around to face Lexaeus, "May you please hand me the camera." he politely asked as he extended a hand out for the device. His request was promptly granted and the slate-haired male turned the camera on and played the opening act, grinning as Xigbar frantically ran away from Luxord.

"H-hey! Not cool dude!" Xigbar leaned across Zexion's chair to grab the camera, but was immediately stopped by Lexaeus large arm which pushed him away. He received a glare from the auburn-haired man and immediately backed away and and slid into an empty seat next to Xaldin.

Soon, Yashiro returned with a tray full of ice-cream and other food and she slid it on the table and glanced over to Marluxia with a smirk, "So, Pinky,"

"Pinky...?" he grumbled and raised his sapphire-gaze to the short-tempered waitress.

Yashiro disregarded the pinkette's discontent, "...you have a unique way of coming out of the closet." she commented.

"Closet?" Marluxia repeated as he tried to keep calm, "I would like to know why exactly you think I'm gay when we barely even know each other."

"Have you seem yourself in the mirror?" she retorted mockingly, "Why would any guy dye their hair _pink_? Even if it's natural-"

"Hair color has nothing to do with one's sexuality." Zexion nonchalantly interrupted without looking up from the camera. He smirked, "Now that you're done harassing your customers, you could return to Kariya and get your ramen." he waved a dismissive hand.

The pink-haired waitress had 'shock' written all over her face for a short period of time before it transformed into a look of irritation, "Listen here, Shorty, this is none of your business." she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Unfortunately, it seems as though it is now." he turned off the camera and handed it to Demyx and folded his hands neatly on the table, "As much as I hate to admit it, the one you call 'Pinky' is a friend of mine, and since you decided to mock him while other friends of his are around, it should be expected that one of us will interrupt your conversation."

"You're going to lose this argument- oh! I found the video!" Demyx quickly got distracted by the recording of his opening act.

Marluxia glanced over to Larxene, "Are you just going to let those two argue?" he inquired. It seems as though she enjoys watching the two throw retorts at one another with a smile that Marluxia never seen on her before. Though, if he must guess, the blonde might have been planning something.

"Forget this!" Yashiro stomped her foot down and turned around, "Kariya! If there's any complaints about this, it's all your fault!" she yelled as she crossed the cafe to the orange-haired man muttering something about a missing purse and empty fridge.

The pink-haired man sighed as he realized the blonde won't be answering him anytime soon. He glanced over to Zexion with a smirk on his face, "Friends, you say? I thought you disliked me." he drawled.

"Don't get used to it. I only used it as an excuse to interrupt your argument and anger the waitress." he replied coolly and leaned his head on Demyx's shoulder and watches the blonde happily replay the same scene over and over again.

.

Everyone returned back to the blonde siblings' home at around five o' clock in the evening because Xigbar got offended when Demyx replayed the same scene for about the hundredth time, so he ran out of the cafe and everyone had to finish up their food and go chase him around the city. Marluxia thought he wouldn't last long.

Though, apparently, Xigbar was _very_ good at hiding. It took the group about forty minutes just to find him hanging upside in a tall tree in the park and another fifteen minutes just to try to get him down before Larxene got pissed and grabbed an empty soda can from a garbage can and chucked it squarely on the older man's forehead, effectively knocking him out. Then, because the can can from a garbage can, Vexen took out a bottle of sanitizer and rubbed some on Xigbar's head before offering some to Larxene, who reluctantly accepted it. After that, Xaldin had to carry him back to the truck even though everyone was tempted to just leave him laying on the pavement until he wakes up and calls Demyx. (Demyx because no one else would pick-up their phone if they see Xigbar's caller ID.)

When Xigbar finally woke-up, he fortunately forgot everything that happened in the park. No one bothered to remind him except Demyx, who attempted to before Larxene took a rolled-up newspaper and smacked it against her younger brother's mouth.

"Argh, why does my forehead hurts so much...?" Xigbar held a hand up to his forehead to check for blood, and seemed relieved to find none.

"We don't have time to worry about your stupid little headache." Larxene growled and threw the newspaper she had at the older man, "Go look for a real job so you guys can make some cash and get your own place." she folded her arms across her chest.

"Alright, alright..." The black-and-gray-haired man unrolled the article and opened it. He paused for a few seconds before throwing it at Xaldin, "Read it Xaldy, I can't. My forehead is killing me." Xigbar grabbed a decorative pillow that was on the couch he was laying on and crashed it on his face and groaned in pain. Xaldin caught the newspaper and muttered something insulting about Xigbar.

"What a freaking sissy. Can't even handle a headache." Larxene mumbled discontentedly.

"Well, you did you a metal can as a projectile." Marluxia replied.

"Whatever." Larxene was about to grab newpaper identical to the one she threw at Xigbar, until a thought crossed her mind, "Hey, Marly..." she said sweetly and leaned in next to his ear.

Marluxia blushed and gulped at the sound of her voice, "Yes, Larxene?"

"Do you happen to..." she took a piece of Marluxia's pink hair and twirled it around her index finger, "need help at the flower-shop?"

Marluxia thought about it, he didn't really need help, but then again... This is Larxene. "Why do you need to know?" he inquired, trying to ignore that his face must be as red as a rose by now.

"Remember that bet?" she grinned.

Fuck. He did remember that bet. He wasn't sure if he liked or disliked where this was going.

* * *

**A/N-** Sorry about being a day late with this chapter! School and tests and... *faints*

This is a pretty short chapter, but better than nothing, right? 8D *shot*

Thank you for reading and the reviews if you left one, by the way! ;u;


	5. Chapter 5

*Why... Why would you want to work in a florist shop?" Marluxia finally asked as he watched the blonde woman next to him continue to mindlessly twirl his pink locks around her finger.

"I need a job too. Being Demyx's bodyguard and co-manager is nice and all, but that doesn't really help me make a living." she replied, "Anyway, the bet did say you have to do anything I want you to do, and I want you to hire me. I mean, it seems like it's going to take you a while to tend to all those plants and deal with wusses that can only make fun of your hair."

"You seemed to enjoy watching Yashiro make fun of my hair." Marluxia pointed out.

"It's only because I was thinking about why I should work with you." a cat-like grin formed on her face, "When do I start?"

The pink-haired man breathed a defeated sigh, "Whenever you desire, my dear."

Larxene leaned away from Marluxia with a mischievous smirk glued on to her facial features, "I'm starting tomorrow." she stated confidently. Marluxia just knew she had something else in mind. Just knew it.

Now he liked where this was going.

"Xigbar," Xaldin threw the newspaper he held on top of the pillow covering the one-eyed man's head, "I need to go get the pie. You read it yourself." the larger man demanded, sounding a bit vexed, and strolled out of the living and into the kitchen.

"Argh," Xigbar mumbled through the pillow and blindly groped for the news article, once he got the hold of it, he threw it into a random direction, "Luxy, look for a job for me."

Luckily for Luxord (unfortunately for Larxene, she was hoping the man would get smacked in the face), he caught the paper projectile and unrolled it, and then glanced over the job section before promptly abandoning the newspaper on the coffee table. He didn't even bother telling Xigbar he wasn't going to do what he was told because of the card mishap.

Seconds later, Xaldin reemerged from the kitchen with pie in hand, "Come get your warm pie!" he bellowed, "If it's not warm enough for your liking, go reheat it yourself..." he grumbled as he slid a circular tray containing the baked pastry on to the dining table (which is where Larxene and Marluxia are currently standing next to).

"Yay, pie!" Demyx suddenly leaped up from the loveseat that he and Zexion both sat on, the action caused the slate-haired man to raise his cold cobalt-gaze to the hyped-up blond sitarist. Realizing what he has done, Demyx turned around to look at Zexion, "Whoops, sorry Zexy, I'm just a bit hungry." he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and laughed.

Zexion smirked lightly and gingerly placed his book on the coffee table and stood up, "What am I ever going to do with you..." he said sarcastically. Demyx made an adorable pout in response to the statement before the couple wandered over to where Larxene and Marluxia stood.

"Hey Dem, guess what?" Larxene poked her younger brother playfully (a very rough, but still playful poke).

"You got laid?" Demyx answered happily as he took a slice of pie from the tray. Behind him, Zexion pinch the bridge of his nose to fend off what seems to be an oncoming headache.

"What? No!" The blonde-haired woman scowled, "I got a job!" she pushed the side of Demyx's head with her index finger, "Why would you say that?!" she demanded.

"Didn't you tell us you- Ow ow ow!"

"That's, enough, Demyx. If you keep talking, you may never see another pie in your life." Zexion had a tight grip on Demyx's earlobe; cobalt-eyes staring into ocean pools, clearly sending a message to the sitarist that if one more word slips out, he will get mauled by his own sister.

"Uh, no reason." Demyx gulped and shoved the slice of pie into his mouth and scrambled off, grabbing onto Zexion's wrist just after the slate-haired man got a piece of the warm pastry.

Marluxia chuckled at the scene lightheartedly, "They're just perfect for each other..." he rambled.

Larxene stuck her tongue out at Demyx as he retreated back to the loveseat, "Too perfect, if you ask me." she sighed, "Repulsively sweet..." she added in a low-voice that was barely audible.

The pink-haired florist caught the last part for once, "Oh my, can this be that Larxene, everyone's favorite sadist, is jealous?" he queried teasingly. His cockiness was coming in, obviously. Marluxia believed that Larxene won't kill him for saying such a thing.

"Maybe." Larxene deadpanned with eyebrows knitted together in clear frustration that was held back.

Well, it seems as though his assumption was correct.

"So," Marluxia leaned into the wooden oval table, "you want a relationship like that?" he motioned a hand towards Demyx and Zexion. The blonde seemed like he managed to get Zexion's pie, and he was now jubilantly munching away at the food as the man next to him returned to reading.

"Kinda." she mumbled, then her eyes widened in realization. She smirked her signature smirk and breathed a dramatic sigh, "But where can someone as cruel as me find such a man?" she crossed her hands behind her head and rested on them.

"Dear, he may be closer than you think." Marluxia caught on to what Larxene was doing. Currently, he was glad for joining drama club when Sora begged everyone to come with him. Larxene joined too, since she didn't want to get stuck at home with her parents, who would always be a bit too worried about their daughter and son and would start an interrogation that would even put the best detectives to shame. To make the long story short: everyone but Sora, Demyx, and Axel regretted it, but one good thing did come from it: emotions were much easier to hide and lying was also simpler. Ever since their time in drama club, April Fools day became much more entertaining.

"Just how close, Flower Boy?" She slowly leaned towards Marluxia.

"Inches, he might even be speaking to you right now." Marluxia started to raise his hands to Larxene's face...

"What time is it?" Xigbar complained loudly, very loudly. Causing almost everyone to jump.

"Xigbar! Raising your voice to such levels was unnecessary and rude!" Xemnas scolded with a scowl on his face. He seemed to have gotten into a very interesting conversation with Saix about human emotions and a fairy tale called "Kingdom Hearts".

"Dude, calm down. I just want to know the time, I don't want to miss my show." Xigbar retorted boldly.

"It is 11:12 pm, Xigbar." Zexion answered indifferently.

Marluxia groaned, "It seems as though I must leave now before it gets any darker." the florist straightened himself, "Anyone willing to drive me home?"

"I will." Axel volunteered as he came down a flight of stairs with Roxas following close behind, both of them were putting on coats, "Roxy and I need to go somewhere."

Marluxia gave them a skeptical look, but accepted their offer anyway. He turned towards Larxene, "I shall see you tomorrow, my precious rose."

"Yours? Pfft." she scoffed, "Not yet."

"Hurry up, Flower Boy!" Axel called from the doorway, the redhead and blonde prepared to leave already.

"Coming, you pedophile."

"H-hey! I am not a pedophile!" Axel blushed.

"Take a joke, Ax." Roxas pushed the taller man playfully out of his way, "Oh, Demyx! I'm leaving your headset on the doorknob, I forgot to take it off upstairs." the blonde off the wireless headset and hung it on the doorknob. He then checked his pockets and pulled out a small box and placed it back into his coat pocket.

"It's okay, Rox! I forget to take it off all time!" Demyx replied as he nonchalantly strummed Arpeggio.

Marluxia tuned out of the talking, he was too busy wondering why the box had Sora's name on it with "Congrats" above his name. What made him wonder the most the the "K" with the rest covered by Roxas' hand.

_Could it be...? _The florist thought.

* * *

**A/N- **A week late. I am extremely sorry. ;n; I had no electricity for four days, so I couldn't work on this story at all.

Yep. Larxene likes Marluxia, Xigbar just had to ruin everything. :C That can mus have caused some brain-damage... Heh. XD

Thank you for reading and the reviews if you left one!


	6. Chapter 6

A blinding light rushed through the window panes and onto lidded sapphire eyes. Marluxia rubbed his eyes groggily and glanced at his alarm clock. The LEDs flashed six o' clock, but it was not ringing. The florist sighed and groaned into his light pink pillow. He must get a new alarm clock later.

After a few minutes of silent complaining, Marluxia stretched out his body and in the process, accidentally kicking off a box.

_...a box?_

Marluxia sat up and looked over the edge of his bed and saw something he did not expect: a new alarm clock.

The pink-haired man leaned over the foot of his green, floral-patterned bed and his hands gripped the box for the new alarm clock and placed it on his night-stand. Who could have gave him the gift? He was sure it was not there when he had left for—  
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps outside of his room. He stood up and calmly but cautiously opened his wooden door...

"Good morning, Marly." A blonde was standing on his kitchen with a frying pan in her hand.

Marluxia blinked and blinked again. Nope, he was awake.

"Lar-Larxene? How exactly did you get into my house...?"

"I took your spare key when we were chasing Xigbar." she said calmly as of this was the most normal thing in the world.

Marluxia only stared at Larxene with an extremely surprised expression plastered on his face. It was a good surprise though; they both did have some unfinished "business" to take care of... Unfortunately, that would have to be later. The surprised expression faded away, "I see." was his only simple reply before returning to his room to grab some clothes before he headed to the bathroom. He poked his head out the doorway, "I'll be in here if you need me."

Larxene only laughed at that, "I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

Marluxia stepped out of the bathroom with a pink towel in hand to dry his hair. It only took him a few seconds to smell what was happening: something was burning. He only had two guesses of what started it: Larxene invited Axel in (he visibly winced at this prediction), or Larxene was cooking (he winced again). The ever-so flamboyant Marluxia made his way into the kitchen and draped his towel over one of the chairs in there and rushed behind Larxene and peeked over her shoulders. The latter was correct.

Marluxia sighed and subconsciously wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist, "Hm, what could you be possibly cooking?" he whispered into her ear.

"What does it look like to you?" she asked without removing her eyes from the round black circle on the pan.

"Flattened coal." He teased then rested his chin on the blonde's head.

Larxene grinned, "Well, better get your eyes checked because this," she motioned at the charred batter, "is a pancake."

The florist shook his head, "For who?" it was a rhetorical question, yet, he just felt the need to ask.

"I don't know, some guy with pink hair, blue eyes, a flower addiction." she laughed again.

"I'd rather have something else for breakfast, you know." he drawled and unwrapped his arms.

Larxene spun around with the pan still in hand and narrowed her jade eyes at Marluxia, "What?" she growled.

The pink-haired man took the frying pan, dumped the burned pancake into the trash bin then grabbed the blonde's chin then lowered his down and caught her lips in a kiss. The blonde was a bit surprised at first, but once she caught what was happening, she closed her eyes and allowed the florist to deepen the kiss. Marluxia accepted the offer and leaned in, wrapping his arms around her waist again.

(Through his mind, he kept thinking that this was suicide. He did anger the blonde.)

The pair broke apart after a few minutes. Both grinning happily as they stared into each other's eyes. Marluxia could still taste a sour citrus flavor tingling in his mouth after breaking away, which he absolutely _loved_. "This." he answered.

"Heh, I guess that was better than pancakes." a pause, "_Much_ better than pancakes." Larxene corrected herself.

"Great." Marluxia pulled the blonde in, "You want to know a secret?" he asked.

"You actually dyed your hair pink?" she joked.

"Nope," he lowered his head down so his lips are next to Larxene's ears, "I have been wanting to do that ever since we met in middle school in sixth grade."

Marluxia didn't even need to look at Larxene's face to know that her eyes were wide in shock.

"How?" she asked, her tone is in disbelief, "I treated you like trash back then."

"I was too busy admiring your raw beauty and bold attitude to pay attention to any of that." Marluxia answered, lying a bit. Sure, he admired those two traits of Larxene's, but those words she spoke dug into him like a newly sharpened dagger, despite hearing the same jeering all the time. That never stopped him from loving her. Not even for a millisecond.

_"Nice hair, Gaylord! Didja fall into a bucket of bleach?" the blonde sneered._

_"I did not." Marluxia picked up his bouquets his mother told him to get to give to his teachers. He had an extra one, just in case there was a student teacher in one of his classes. Something about what the blonde said really hurt, it just did. He finally bothered to look at the girl in front of him, the girl who had shoved him down just to tease him. He sworn his heart skipped three beats._

_"Larxene! Stop this behavior this instant!"_

They only became friends in seventh grade when Demyx finally came. There was something about that blonde that can stop even the most serious disputes.

_"Those flowers!" Larxene, her name is Larxene. That same girl from the beginning of last year who shoved him down came back and pushed him down with much more force. "You're the guy who left one in my locker, huh? What kind of sick joke are you tryin' to pull?!"_

_Sick joke? Marluxia stayed silent. The pink-haired teen only stared at his palm, scratched and bleeding from the pavement. He liked her, he had an extra bouquet, so he gave her the surplus._

_"Answer me!" Larxene loomed over him and then grabbed Marluxia by the collar of his shirt, fist held up high._

_Where was a staff member when you need one?_

_Marluxia stared into those chlorophyll eyes of hers. His mouth opened, then it went dry and closed again. No, he couldn't yell at her._

_Just as the fist was starting to come down, a blonde boy with a strange hairstyle grabbed that hand then hugged it, "Larx, don't do this, please." he pleaded with watery eyes. He obviously hated violence._

_"Dem, stay out of this." she hissed and pulled her arm away, only to have it taken captive again, "Let go!"_

_"No way! Not until you apologize and hug!"_

_"You act too much like Mom..."_

"You're strange, Marluxia." Larxene smiled then rested her head on his chest.

Silence took over. A comfortable silence that spoke many words and none at all.

Marluxia never wanted this to end.

* * *

**A/N- **Sorry for being so late, I really have no good excuse. ;n;

What do you guys think of the chapter? A peek into the past, and more definitely coming up!

Yep, the story is not ending yet! It shall never end! /Just kidding

Heh, wrote this while listening to "Stop and Stare" by OneRepublic, how fitting! XD

Thank you for reading and the reviews if you left one!


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey, Marly, lets stop by the cafe and see if Yoshiro actually shoved that rose up Kariya's ass." Larxene leaned over the dashboard of Marluxia's car, obviously pleased with her first at Oblivion Floral.

Marluxia laughed, "Wish we could, but your brother will only start panicking." he reminded.

"Psh, I'll kill the kid later then." Larxene grounded out with arms crossed across her chest.

"I don't even think the cafe would be open at this time anyway." The pink-haired man added in an attempt to calm Larxene's false anger down. The blond groaned in disgust and slumped down in her seat.

"You're such a freaking goody-two-shoes, Marluxia." Larxene grumbled and glared out the window, watching the street lights fly by.

"Goody-two-shoes, huh?" Marluxia repeated then drove past a stop sign without stopping as the car entered a different street.

"Wow, you drove past a stop sign; such a rebel!" The blond exclaimed sarcastically, "What are you going to do now? Not yield to pedestrians? Skip a red light? No wait! Are you going to turn on a red light? Oh, the possibilities of your future wrongdoings might make me faint!" Larxene melodramatically lifted the back if her hand to her forehead.

"Yes, my dear nymph," Marluxia took Larxene's hand into his own as they pulled up into her driveway, "we shall be partners in crime, breaking the rules of the road and risking the lives of many together!"

"Should I call the cops while we're all still alive then?" Xigbar poked his head through the driver seat's window with a grin on his face.

Larxene glared daggers at the older man and pulled out a Swiss army knife from her pocket, shocking both Marluxia and Xigbar, "You won't be for long grandpa—"

"Xigbar! Where the hell did you hide my lighter this time?" Axel yelled from the inside of the house.

"_Lighter_? That fucking asshole isn't touching shit like that in my home." Larxene angrily swore as she shoved the door open and jumped out. The woman started to sprint up the porch steps and through the entrance as soon as she got out.

"Fire Crotch is so screwed." Xigbar turned his back to Marluxia, "Can't miss this!" The man dashed into the house.

Marluxia— slightly confused— left his car and locked the vehicle before following suite. He stepped through the threshold and saw that the house was already a mess compared to yesterday.

"Oh, were you lookin' for this Ax?"

"Give that back—"

"Both of you shut up!" Larxene ripped the lighter out if Xigbar's hand, "Who have him a fucking lighter?" She scanned everyone in the room, no one seemed brave enough to step up and claim responsibility. Marluxia couldn't blame them.

"Oh! Larx, Larx, Larx!" Demyx came tumbling down from upstairs from possible hearing his sistrer's yelling, "We found— whoah!" The man tripped over a step.

Larxene— despite the fact that she wanted to see her brother fall down and cry in pain— threw the lighter at Roxas' face and ran to catch her younger sibling. "Spit it out already, the gay vibes in here are strong today and I need to take a shower before I could deal with you idiots." Larxene said this as she watched everyone else with narrowed eyes.

"We found jobs!" Demyx was promptly dropped on the floor, "Gee thanks. You're so very nice today."

"Damn straight I am." Larxene crossed her arms over her chest, "Spill now or I'll castrate you."

Demyx pointed to himself, "Music shop." He smiled triumphantly and motioned to the others, "Axel applied at an engineering company—"

"Oh God, the last thing we need is Axel touching a blow torch..."

"The last thing we need is for you to work with roses!" Axel retaliated with narrowed emerald-eyes.

"Shut the fuck up." Larxene growled and returned with a sharp glare.

"...Xigbar, Xaldin, and Luxord all work at a bar, Vexen is trying to get into RGU as a professor, Lex is a blacksmith, Xemnas and Saix won't tell us what the hell they're doing, but they did find a a job and a place to stay," he motioned around the room, "... That's why they're not here. Oh, Roxas is a journalist for Radiant Garden Times."

"What about the emo midget?"

"He has a name you know!" Demyx whined defensively.

"Speaking of that kid, where is he?" Larxene checked the room again and all the men shrugged.

"He isn't home yet... He said he has a surprise though." The blond flopped onto his back and stared at he ceiling before releasing a loud yawn.

"Alright then." The older of the two blonds shrugged and ran upstairs, "Marluxia, keep an eye on these dumbasses when I'm gone!"

Roxas scoffed quietly at that statement and dragged Axel into the kitchen. The opening and closing of the fridge can be heard; after that, chatter filled the house and Xigbar approached and swung an arm around Marluxia's shoulder, Luxord followed the man close behind.

"Quite an interestin' conversation you had wih Larxene. Breaking the rules of the road? What did they ever do to you—"

"Breaking the rules if the road? My, I have to say my curiosity is piqued." Luxord interrupted with another one of his smug smiles.

Xigbar nearly fell over, "What the hell man! Why are you following me?" a pause, "If it's for the money, let me tell you I already paid you back!"

Luxord shook his head, "You still owe me a new deck of cards."

"Don't you have a hundred other packs? You practically sleep on them!"

"You still owe me." Luxord glared.

"Hell no I don't!" Xigbar crossed his arms over his chest defiantly, "Anyway, I never took them in the first place!"

"Then explain yesterday's show!"

Marluxia rolled his eyes at the argument taking place in front of him. Sure, he was glad Xigbar stopped bothering him... but _damn_. The argument was entertaining, sure, but they're getting _loud_.

_Note to self: never touch Luxord's cards. Hm, I think I can manage._

"My, my, fighting with each other when I'm not around? Oh, you know that's not allowed here. When you're going to maul each other, make sure the Savage Nymph is around! I'm so disappointed!" A pseudo-saccharine voice drawled out from the stairwell.

"Oh shit." Xigbar murmured fearfully.

"Lux, here's a new pack if cards," Larxene threw a small white box at said man, "now stop complaining about that one card; I took it anyway."

The platinum-blond man caught the pack and raised a questioning eyebrow, "Care to explain?"

"I'm pretty sure that we all know that Demyx's plan for yesterday's comedy act was shit, so I stole your cards and replaced it with Xigbar's tuner." She laughed at then previously bickering men, "You're fucking blind, can't believe you didn't realize I switched the two."

Xigbar glared at Larxene, "I'm so going to get you back for that."

The blond only cackled at that, "I'd like to see you try!" she pulled out the same Swiss Army knife she had in Marluxia's car and pulled all the tools out quickly, revealing four small knives. A victorious grin wormed its way onto her face, "Oh, do remember I happen to have a second one of these babies with me."

Marluxia stared wide-eyed at the knives, "How did you...?"

"Lex owed me." Larxene replied curtly.

"For what?"

"Sh," she lifted a finger to her lips, "can't tell you." Then with those words, she placed all the knives back in their hiding place and slid the dangerous item into one of her denim shorts' pockets.

Then, Marluxia realized Xigbar and Luxord wasn't around anymore.

"Aw, Xiggy and Lux! Get out from under the table, Larx won't kill you!" Demyx tried to coax the men out, "... Well, not _today_ anyway."

A rapid knocking was then heard, causing the musician to pick his head up and scrambled to the door. He turn the knob then latched onto the man in front if him.

... Though a shoe-clad foot stopped him and a soft "meow" was voiced from said man's arms and the house became dead silent.

"Zex... when did you learn how to speak Cat?"

"Dem, that was not me and you know it." Zexion deadpanned and entered the house. He removed his loafers and closed the door with his foot.

"_Me-ow,_ isn't that one strange cat." Axel drawled, "It's all... purple and striped...?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Roxas elbowed the man in the same area he has elbowed the day before; right under the ribs.

"Ow, Roxy, you hurt me again! Why must you always do this to me? I thought you loved me!" Axel whined melodramatically.

"...Shut up."

Once the two were done, Zexion started to speak again, "Yes, this is a strangely colored cat; a British shorthair to be precise. His name is Cheshire, the Radiant Garden Public Library's cat." he transferred the feline to Demyx's arms. Said blond seemed to instantly melt and he stroked Chesire's back tenderly, "He was originally from the shelter, rescued from a crazy, avid, _Alice in Wonderland_ fan after being discovered for painting him. He is lucky to have survived the ordeal." The slate-haired man explained smoothly, "...The library pays the employees extra for taking him home and back for a week when the library closes. We have to take turns though."

Larxene— who seemed absolutely murderous seconds ago— breathed a sigh of relief, "As long as you're getting payed extra, I guess we could deal with the furball."

"Aw, are you scared of Scary Larxy-warxy? Don't worry, Daddy Demykins and Zexy-wexy will protect you, oh yes we will!" Demyx babied Cheshire, who has shrunken back slightly when Larxene spoke.

"...Talk like that again and I'll kill you instead of the cat, dumbass."

Demyx pouted cutely and returned to giving his attention to the small corpulent feline in his arms, "Lets go somwhere where sweet Larxene won't threaten you." he huffed and jogged upstairs.

Zexion sighed before wondering over the Lexaeus, then he promptly followed after his boyfriend when he handed the auburn-haired man his car keys.

"... I predict that this place will be very lively with this new addition." Marluxia mused.

"I swear, if that cat increases the gay vibes in here, I'll stab someone." Larxene grounded out.

Marluxia laughed and subconsciously wrapped an arm around Larxene's waist. She didn't back away, instead, she slightly leaned into his arm.

"What is it Sora? What? Stop spazzing out and speak coherently already!" Roxas' voice rang throughout the house.

"Put that on speaker phone, Roxy. I want to hear this." Axel voice soon followed after.

"Alright, get ready then—"

"Roxas! Axel! You guys really didn't need to do this—"

"Yes we do."

"Roxas, c'mon. You didn't."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night."

"Roxas!"

"Spit out what you want to say already!"

"Stop interrupting me then!" Sora whined, "Okay, thank you for the gift, I placed it right where everyone can see it."

"Are you talking to Roxas and Axel?"

"Yup."

Shuffling noises were heard before someone spoke again; however, this was a more feminine voice, "Thank you, you two!"

"No problem Kairi, seriously."

"If only Riku was here, he loved it too." Kairi sighed, "Oh well, maybe we can force him onto the phone later."

"Alright."

More shuffling noises, "Bye!" Sora and Kairi said in unison.

"Bye."

"See you later!" Axel butted in and Roxas stomped on his foot. The phone then went dead.

"Geez, was it really worth getting that worked up about?"

"C'mon, Rox, they haven't seen you in so long."

"I know... but God. I think I heard enough of Sora's spazzing to last me another year."

Marluxia smiled when the conversation was no longer audible, "Very lively."

"I'm not giving you your spare keys back then." Larxene mumbled.

"I didn't expect you to."

-  
_"Marluxia?"_

_"Oh... It's you."_

_"I feel so welcomed." Larxene sneered sarcastically and approached Marluxia with her younger brother Demyx close behind._

_Without a warning, she hugged him._

_He didn't return it though._

_"There. Happy now Demyx?"_

_"Hm... Maybe?"_

_Marluxia his flushed face in the bag he was toting around, pretending he was looking for something._

_"What? I hugged you; forgave you. Don't you have anything to say?"_

_"...Thank you." This wasn't Marluxia. He felt threatened; his arrogance and cockiness abandoned him so suddenly._

_"Okay! Now I'm a happy Demyx! Bye-bye." The younger boy skittered away and stopped when he reached a strange, meticulous-looking slate- haired student._

_Larxene turned away, "Lets start on a new leaf tomorrow." she muttered quickly and left._

* * *

**A/N- **I'm such a terrible authoress. ;n;

Try to expect at least one chapter a month; I just finally figured out what the heck I'm doing.

OKAY. This chapter, I haven't actually started writing until two weeks ago. It came out better than the previous version of it. I had to abandon the story for a few weeks; let the chapter improve itself in the back of my mind.

Also, I've been thinking about restarting the story... but nah, I HAVE TO FINISH THIS. Maybe then, I might consider... rewriting it.

(Oh, my writing has definitely changed... Dayum. I wrote more than I intended.)


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N- **Guess who finished their end of the year projects? *points thumbs at self* This idiot. QQ

* * *

A loud meow bounced off the walls of the room and into sleepy ears. Eyelids opened to reveal clouded green eyes. The owner of the eyes shot up and glared the the feline at the foot of her bed.

"Get off furball." She growled with narrowed eyes. The cat hissed as he was abruptly awoken. Larxene's glare sharpened, "I said get. _Off_!" He hissed back venomously and shoved the strangely colored feline off her bed.

Cheshire landed on his side, but he fumbled back onto his feet quickly and skittered out of the door that was opened slightly ajar.

"Aw, there you are Cheshy!" A familiar voice ecstatically exclaimed seconds after the British Shorthair's escape.

"Keep your voice down, Demyx." An exasperated voice muttered softly.

"You all shut the fuck up!" Larxene finally screamed; she was tired. It's Sunday. She doesn't want to wake up at six o'clock a.m just because a pudgy cat meowed at her for food. Dammit, she just wanted to sleep. Fortunately, everyone obediently went silent like they were told to.

It's great to have everyone fearing you. It really is.

_Nine o'clock, hm, not bad_. Larxene thought as she stretched her stiff body, spine snapping as it realigned. The blonde exited her room and descended down the staircase and into the living room. Then, she ambled into the kitchen to grab a plate and a mug. She (literally) shoved a piece or two (Larxene really wasn't paying attention) of toast into the toaster and then trudged to the coffee maker and waited for her caffeinated drink to be brewed next to Xaldin.

"So," the man tried to start a conversation, "I heard you yell at everyone to shut the fuck up." he sipped his tea, "What happened?"

"Cheshy-fucking-cat happened." Larxene grumbled and forcefully grabbed the freshly brewed coffee, poured the drink into her somehow-sinister mug (it was black and red and the rimmed was slightly chipped. Xaldin was certain the red wasn't there when Larxene had the mug for the first few weeks she had it.)

Xaldin, not wanting to lose his life at the moment, didn't bother to further question he fearsome woman. Said fearsome woman didn't give a damn anyway. She just walked over to the toaster with her coffee, took the burnt piece (pieces? It was too burnt to tell) and slapped the food onto her plate. Larxene then strolled out of he kitchen and plopped on the couch.

It was quite a regular morning.

Larxene stretched out on the couch and groaned. She flipped her phone shut and just stared at the televisio only to see boring reruns being played. It was the afternoon, Larxene was all ready for a run...

Though her freaking running buddy was no where to be found. Where the hell is Marluxia? The poof promises her yesterday he'll go running with her today. Larxene is going to punch his pretty face in for being so late.

The blond quite literally rolled off the couch and opened the door. She isn't going to keep waiting for the pink haired man.

"Looks like someone finally opens the door," a familiar voice drawled, "my dear nymph, why must you keep me waiting for so long?"

"Marluxia? When did you get here?" Larxene crossed her arms over her chest.

Marluxia glanced at his watch, "Five minutes ago, dear." He shrugged, "I rung the doorbell several times, did you not hear it?"

Larxene now knew why Xigbar was outside for the majority of the morning. The one-eyed bastard is not going to go unpunished from this.

Marluxia smiled knowingly as if he had just read her mind.

"You're so weak!" Larxene groaned. The pair had only ran eleven and a half blocks and Marluxia already collapsed on the nearest bench. The blond rubbed her forehead, "We ran more while chasing Xigbar!"

Marluxia inhaled deeply and sighed, "We actually took breaks when we chased him!" He paused.

"We never took breaks, we only stopped running because of the 'do-not-fucking-walk' signs!"

"At least—" inhale, "we _stopped_. Unlike you," he smirked, "you just ran right through the street, hm... What did you say again? 'I'm not walking, I'm running.'?"

Larxene also smirked, "The light only said I can't walk; I'm not breaking any laws."

"Besides the 'no jaywalking' law."

"No one cares about that law; people do it all the time." She waved a dismissive hand. The two shared a laugh, both knew this was true. The police were rather careless around here anyway.

When the mirthful laughter died away, Larxene strolled behind the bench was sitting on. Then, without the man knowing, she roughly shoved him off the seat. "Get off you lazy ass, we still have... Nineteen blocks to run."

Marluxia breathed an exasperated sigh; how does Larxene run thirty blocks and still have energy to harm others was a mystery to him; as much as a mystery as to why he agreed to this tiresome morning run in the first place. He must be seriously infatuated with this woman. He couldn't deny her invitation. Larxene knew he couldn't too.

"What the hell happened to your face, Marly?" Xigbar teased as he poked the swelling bruise on the side of his face.

Marluxia narrowed his sapphire eyes at the older man, "Do not touch it," he growled and slapped Xigbar's hand away, "God knows what filthy diseases you carry..."

Xaldin and Luxord chuckled in the background when Marluxia insulted their friend. Luxord ambled over to Xigbar and threw an arm over his shoulders, "He sure got you good now, huh?"

Xigbar threw a glare at him, "Shut up and go back to kissin' your cards."

Luxord promptly pulled out a deck from the sleeve of his bartender's uniform and curtly slapped the deck across Xigbar's face, "My cards rather give _you_ a kiss."

"Excuse me? Injured straight man needing medical attention?" Marluxia huffed irritably— he can't believe Larxene left him babysitting these... these children.

"Dating Larxene doesn't make you straight," Xigbar drawled as he rubbed the spot where the deck of cards left a red mark on his face, "Larxene can barely even considered to be—" The one-eyes man stopped when the three other men cast fearful glances at something or someone behind him.

Cracking can be heard, "What are you waiting for, Xigbar?" The voice drawled in a pseudo-saccharine tone, "Go on. Finish you statement. I dare you."

"No thank you, I quite treasure my life—"

"I said go on." More cracking.

"Er," Xigbar, slightly intimidated and scared, continued, "Larxene can barely considered to be..." He hesitated, "... She can barely even considered to be the mean, selfish bitch everyone thinks she is—"  
Xigbar had spent quite a long time on the couch, trying to cease his bloody nose for a long while. At least he still managed to arrive to work on time... Even if the manager of the bar had given him and his 'friends' a questioning glare.

"The fuck happened to you—"

"You can stop right there, Firecrotch." Marluxia sighed, "I was running too slow so... Larxene pushed me to go faster—"

"She pushed you and you ran and hit your face against a streetlight?" Roxas predicted as he walked into the room Axel and Marluxia were sitting in.

"... Exactly." Marluxia looked at Roxas quizzically, "How does someone as bright as you get stuck with this poor excuse of a human?"

Axel furrowed his eyebrows in anger, "Hey... Lets make you look like Pikachu and give you a bruise on your other cheek..." The redhead clenched his fist.

Roxas then grabbed Axel by the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him off into the kitchen while he muttered 'dumbass' under his breath. He didn't want the one to break the new to Larxene that her love interest just broke his face. Why? That would mean his idiot of a boyfriend would either follow the same faith or die. Most likely the latter though.

Marluxia shook his head in annoyance— Axel. How can Roxas put up with him? The pink haired man mulled over the possibilities as he tends his bruise with a couple of ice-cubes wrapped up in a paper towel.

"Wow, that bruise must be hurting like a bitch..." Larxene muttered and startled Marluxia just a tiny bit. The florist was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't see her approach.

"It sure is," Marluxia grinned, "you owe me for putting me in so much pain in suffering, you know."

Larxene pecked him chastely on the cheek, "There, you happy?"

"Hm," Marluxia shrugged, "I guess it would do... for now."

Larxene laughed then glared playfully, "It'd better be."

Marluxia just smiled and touched his bruise gingerly, "Hey, isn't this familiar to you at all?"

The blond looked at the man then cracked a grin, "Oh yes it is."

_Larxene grinned slyly to herself. All the tenth graders were outside for recess. During recess, a kickball game was played every single day. Larxene would always participate in these games for winning, but today, she was going to do more than win._

_Marluxia. Marluxia, the pink haired boy. The flower loving pansy. The boy who messed with her feelings in middle school. She hated him, but Demyx... Her dumbass of a brother made her at least tolerate him._

_Though, today, she felt possessive of the pink haired boy. Marluxia never played kick ball, but today, he was in the outfield of the game._

_He was avoiding a larger student who was harassing him. Not in the "gimme your fucking lunch money" way, in the flirtatious "c'mon, know you want it" kind of way._

_Larxene gritted her teeth when she saw the jerk grab onto Marluxia's arm in an attempt to take him somewhere else. The blond caught the ball thrown to her from a teammate. She then threw it across to the other team's pitcher. The student rolled the ball at her._

_Larxene was quick and rash with her kick. She aimed at the jerk who was harassing Marluxia; but she only managed to hit the pink haired boy instead— squarely in the face._

_All the students went silent as the ball rolled away. Everyone's eyes were laid on Larxene. The jerk was spooked an scuttled away, which was good._

_The blond could hear the whispers around her, but Larxene being, well, Larxene. She really didn't give a damn._

_"She just..."  
"Marluxia's parents are going to be pissed..."  
"His parents? Think about the biology teacher! She so going to be..."  
"Hot damn! She sure got a kick..."_

_"Marluxia," Larxene begrudgedly said, "Are you okay?" She offered her hand._

_"I... I think so." Marluxia held he hand as he blushed._

_Larxene blushed slightly and look away before she helped him up, "Sorry." She muttered._

_Marluxia didn't hear her, but he smiled, "Thanks."_

_Thanks? What the hell was he thanking her for? Did he know what she was trying to do?_

_All these questions were answered with the knowing look Marluxia gave her._

_Larxene never did get in trouble that day, surprisingly. She, Marluxia, and Mr. D-bag were sent to the office but only D-bag got in deep trouble for sexual harassment and thus suspended. Larxene was only told to try to take a less violent way to resolve her problems. Marluxia had to have an ice-pack tied to his face for the next few days until the swelling went away._

_At least the jerk now knew Marluxia was off-limits. At least no one harassed Marluxia for thinking he's gay. He was her's— even if he didn't know it._

_Demyx would have been estatic to see what her big sister accomplished. She just grew closer to the flower-loving pansy._


End file.
